Automobile-tire.



BEST AVAILABLE COPY W. J. WOODCOGK.

AUTOMOBILE TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. s, 1912.

1,042,065, Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

l' Inv/rentar: by

coLUMBlA PLANDGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D, c.

(LVI

UNITED STATES PATEN T EFTCE.

VILLARD JAY WOODCGCK, OF BRCOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMOBILE-TIRE.

To all who/m tt lmay concern:

Be it known that l, llliLLann Jar lcon- Coox, a citizen of the United States, and resident ot' borough of Brooklyn, in the lcounty ot Kings and State ot New York, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Automobile-Tires, of which the 'following is a specification.

Tires for automobiles and other vehicles, so tar as they are in general use, are classified as solid or cushion tires and pneumatic tires.

The present invention relates to tires ot' the type ot' the latter class, in so far as they are hollow, but notl so tar as they derive their resilience and resistance to the load trom the presence within the tire ot a body ot' air under compression, tor in accordance with the present invention the improved tires are made to depend for their resilience and resistance to load upon external atmospheric pressure on the sides of the tires, a vacuum or a partial vacuum being formed within the body ot the tire which is so formed interior-ly that compression tends to increase the area in cross section oi the chamber and therefore to decrease the internal pressure below atmospheric and the resistance to the external pressure against the sides ot' the tire. ln this manner the external pressure of the atmosphere against the sides otl the tire resists compression of the tire in proportion to thel increase of the load and imparts to the tire both resilience and resistance to load. In this way the variations of pressure in a pneumatic tire of the ordinary description, due to changes in temperature, are avoided, the annoyance and danger of blow-outs are eliminated, and the liability to puncture is greatly reduced.

The invention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which it is illustrated and in which Figure l is a view in elevation of an automobile wheel, the tire being shown in section in the plane of rotation. Fig. 2 is a view of the same in diametrical section.

The wheel o, having a 'telly ZJ, may be ot any usual or suitable construction, since the impro-ved tire can be applied to any wheel and its construction is independent of that ot the wheel.

The improved tire may be used either Specification of Letters Patent.

Application tiled January 3, 1912.

Patented Oct. 22,1912. Serial No. 669,208.

with or without an outer shoe, but is preferably arranged to be used with an outer shoe c ot' ordinary construction which, in the construction shown, is adapted to be secured in place by a locking rim d of well known construction.

The tire e is made of rubber or other suitable iiexible material, with heavy side walls and an internal chamber f which is relatively thin and deep in the plane of rotation. One or both of the opposite walls oit' the chamber are formed or provided with stops g which are intended to prevent the ennplete collapsing` of the tire under atmospheric pressure when a vacuum or a partial vacuum is formed within the chamber.

The manner of forming the tire with the internal chamber is well known to those skilled in the art and need not be described in detail herein.

The tire may be made in two or more parts as shown in Fig. l and each part be provided with a channel /L through which the air may be exhausted from the chamber f. For convenience in exhausting the air Vfrom the several parts of the tire and especially for the purpose of enabling a uniform degree of vacuum to be formed in all parts, the several ducts or channels it may be connected to a common valve-nipple z', as clearly shown in Eig. l, so that by application of an exhaust pump to the valve-nipple z' a uniform vacuum can be established in all parts of the tire at one operation. The valve-nipple z' may be of any suitable construction, the ordinary tire valve being well adapted for the purpose except that it is inverted so that it opens outwardly and automatically prevents the inlet of air to the chamber ot the tire when a vacuum has been formed therein.

in operatio-n it will be understood that the tire is applied to the wheel in any suitable manner. A partial vacuum is formed therein by a suction pump, the complete collapsing of the tire being prevented by the stops g. It will also be understood that by reason of the formation of the chamber as a relatively narrow and deep chamber in the plane of rotation the tendency of the atmospheric pressure against the outside of t-he tire will be to Hatten the tire in the plane of rotation. Furthermore not only will the tendency to compression of the tire at the point where it rests upon the road surface, under the load imposed upon it, be resisted by the tendency or the atmospheric pressure to iatten the tire in the plane or rotation, but such compression of the tire as does take place at this point under the influence of a heavy load will tend to increase the cross sectional area of the chamber, as illustrated in the lower part of Fig 2, and therefore to reduce still further the pressure within the chamber below atmospheric and therefore to increase the resistance of the tire to further compression. Obviously the tire or each part of the tire will have its internal resistance reduced throughout its length and the elasticity of t-he whole tire or of the whole part of the tire will be brouglit into play as the tire is deformed in contact with the road surface and will tend to restore the tire at all points to its normal shape so that the resilience of the tire will be very great.

ltwill be understood that the tire may be made in as many parts as may be desirable to suit different conditions of use, that such parts may be secured to the wheel by a common shoe or by any suitable means, and that the shape ot' the tire may be varied both internally and externally to suit different conditions of use. Furthermore, the degree of vacuum established in the chamber of the tire will be varied to suit different conditions, the degree of vacuum in a tire of givenl dimensions being rather less for a light vehicle than for a heavier vehicle.

I claim as my invention t" l. A vehicle tire of flexible material provided with an interior chamber relatively thin and deep in the plane of rotation and having means to prevent the collapsing ot the walls of the chamber, a duct for communication with an exhaust pump and means for preventing` the admission of air to the chamber, whereby a partial vacuum may be maintained within the tire and detormation of the tire at the road surface resisted by atmospheric pressure against the exterior of the tire.

2. A vehicle tire of liexible material provided with an interior chamber relatively thin and deep in the plane of rotation and relatively thick side walls, said chamber being provided on its opposite walls with stops to prevent complete collapsing of the walls cf the chamber, a duct for communica tion with an exhaust pump and means to prevent the inlet of air to the chamber, whereby a partial vacuum may be maintained within the tire and deformation of the tire at the road surface resisted by atmospheric pressure against the exterior ot the tire.

Signed at borough of Brooklyn, city of N ew York, in the county of Kings and State of New York, this 21st day of December A. D. 1911.

lVILLARD JAY VVOODCOCK. `Witnesses FRANK XV. VooDcocn, AUGUSTA A. VVooDcocK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

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